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Alchemist
The Alchemist is a technical city location; this is a non-hostile alchemist who sells relevant items and knowledge in-town. Detection The party needs a member with a requisite level of Alch to spot a genuine Alchemist on the "Astrologists' Lane," or their visit to this section of the city will be fruitless. The skill threshold is reportedly between 1 and 24, determined by random chance and possibly the hidden skill rating of the Alchemist himself. Research and best-guesswork indicate that the Alchemist's skill rating determines how likely he is to have potions for sale, rather than ingredients, may influence the quality of his PhStone, and determines how productive his tutoring sessions are. Inquiries Addressing the Alchemist successfully involves a difficult skill check against the designated party leader's Chr, Alch, and SpkC. Failure results in the party being exiled from the premises for a week. ;Philosopher's Stone:The cost is generally 1 to 3 Groschen per point of PhStone quality, scaled by the city's size. ;Ingredients:These will match those available from the herbalist in the Markt, meaning that obtaining ingredients from this source is a needlessly risky skill check. ;Potions:This is the only place in the game where potions can be bought. The concoctions will always be 25q (still significantly better than nothing). ;Purchasing formulas:There will be four potion recipes chosen from the list below, for a number of Florins dependent on the quality of the product and the city's size. ;Trading formulas:This is just about the only way to obtain one of the forty-four formulas not listed above. Trading for a random formula is free and can be attempted every four days (three nights). The designated party leader is the beneficiary of the exchange, which means that the party's alchemist will need high Chr, Alch, and SpkC in order to gather all the best alchemical formulas. ;Further instruction:Alch training via taking up residence at the inn. Cites All big cities have an alchemist in residence. The following is a non-exhaustive list of cities which lack one. Additional Notes *The skill check for dealing with the alchemist means that the party's own alchemist needs strong interpersonal skills in order to advance quickly in the discipline. The background career paths of Alchemist and Master Alchemist allow large improvements to SpkC. *Possibly due to a programming error, only the first 22 of the total of 66 formulae can ever be purchased from vendors like the Alchemist, University, and overland Monasteries. The others all need to be traded-for. The relation between the numbers (22/66) suggests that the 22 proper-named potions (from Noxious Aroma to Firewall) were considered for making a random selection, but the fact that each of these potions actually spreads over 3 unique recipes, for 25q, 35q, and 45q— for a total of 66 recipes— was overlooked. *The result of the above is that it will take a very, very long time to obtain any particular recipe indexed beyond entry #22 (al-Tamimi's Thunderbolt). Always check in with the alchemist every 4 days or when arriving at a city, in order to make a trade. *Unlike the other residents of the crafts district, the Alchemist is not lenient about being disturbed at night. Category:Locations